


Survival

by writers_haven



Series: Rintori Week Summer 2014 [4]
Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Day 4: Shark Bites, M/M, Rintori Week Summer 2014, The Last of Us AU, Violence, because obviously i look at shark bites and think about zombies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-09
Updated: 2016-04-09
Packaged: 2018-05-31 18:19:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6481681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writers_haven/pseuds/writers_haven
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Most of the world is dead or infected. They’ve been doing so well being neither that they forgot they can be both.</p><p>“Ai,” Rin whispers, soft and intense and scared.</p><p>“I know,” Ai whispers back, because he’s scared too. He pushes Rin’s hair out of his face, tucks it behind his ear. He smoothes his fingers over Rin’s face, memorising the feeling of Rin’s soft cheeks, his stubble-rough jaw, his dry, cracked lips, his sharp shark teeth.</p><p>“Careful,” Rin breathes against Ai’s thumb, and he’s right. One wrong move and Ai’ll be infected too. He sighs and pulls away carefully, instead rests his head on Rin’s shoulder again.</p><p>“I want to kiss you,” he murmurs, and squeezes Rin’s hand because he can’t.</p><p>“Don’t,” Rin replies darkly. “It transmits through bodily fluids, remember?”</p><p>“I know,” Ai says softly.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Survival

**Author's Note:**

> (this is **zombie au** , proceed with caution if you are squeamish about violence and the dead/undead)

Ai climbs up the ivy and hauls himself over the second floor windowsill. He lands on a disturbingly narrow ledge, but settles as comfortably as he can, nocking an arrow on his bow. There are about twelve infected milling about; between the seven of them, it shouldn’t be terribly hard. Ai’s up here mainly to keep an eye on everyone and make sure they don’t get snuck up on, because he’s pretty much useless at close range and he’s too low on arrows to snipe properly.

The other six enter the building quietly, spreading out. Rei goes straight for the van in the far left of the room; Nagisa and Haru follow to watch his back. Makoto and Gou head left, where two infected are shambling about aimlessly. Rin, of course, pulls out a Molotov cocktail and makes his way towards the loose ring of five or six infected in the middle of the room.

Rin makes the first move, yelling, “Hey, over here!” The infected turn to face him as one and run towards him, snarling and hissing and clawing at the air. Makoto takes advantage of the distraction and bashes an infected’s skull in with his baseball bat; Gou, following his example, leaps onto the other infected’s back and slices its neck. Rin backs up quickly, lighting the Molotov and lobbing it right in the throng of infected coming after him. One of the infected near the front hasn’t been caught in the flames, however, and lunges at Rin–

Ai shoots without a second thought. The arrow goes straight through the infected’s skull. Rin sends him a quick thumbs up and a grin before drawing his gun and leaping back into the fray.

Ai’s down to three arrows.

Rei’s reached the van and wrenches the door open– Ai’s at the wrong angle, but judging from the way Rei jolts backwards, it’s safe to say that there’s an infected in there, too. Rei gets over the surprise quickly, though, and whacks the thing about with a crowbar, presumably until it stops twitching. Haru, a slight ways to Rei’s left, takes out an infected with a knife in its eye; Nagisa, on the opposite side, is somehow managing to escape the clutches of two infected at the same time. Ai nocks another arrow cautiously, because there’s a good chance–

Nagisa makes one tiny misstep, and suddenly he’s struggling with an infected. Ai shoots – the arrow goes through the infected’s chest, which isn’t enough to kill it, but certainly enough to knock it off of Nagisa.

Ai’s down to two arrows.

Nagisa scrambles away quickly, fumbling with his knife, but Gou and Makoto come to his aid. Makoto wastes no time smashing his bat down on the skull of the infected Ai shot, and between Gou and Nagisa they take down the other infected easily.

“Fuck!” Rin’s voice sounds suddenly, panicked. Ai’s attention snaps to him immediately; he’s far off in the far right corner of the room, running from a no-legged infected crawling, fast, towards him. Rin shoots at it once, twice, then trips over a rock and falls to the ground. His gun slides out of his reach. “Fuck!” Rin shouts again. “Help!”

The others immediately go to help him, but they might not make it in time. Ai nocks an arrow, but hesitates. He’s in the opposite corner to Rin, can he make the shot from here?

Rin shrieks in panic as the infected seizes him by the calf, and Ai stops thinking about it and shoots. He’d aimed at the infected’s torso, but the arrow goes clean through its skull. Instant kill.

Ai sighs in relief. He doesn’t know what he’d do without Rin.

Rin doesn’t look too happy at all as he kicks the infected’s arm off and inspects his leg. Even from as far away as he is, Ai can tell something’s wrong. The others know something’s up, too, exchanging worried glances as Rin rests his head against his knee. Makoto starts to say something when Rin pulls his hands away from his ankle and Ai’s heart stops.

Rin’s been bitten.

\--

They’re in the back of the van. Gou and Rin are huddled together, still afraid and grieving but with no more tears to cry. Ai sits next to them, Rin’s hand in his, and his mind is still reeling because he can’t come to terms with the fact that his best friend is going to become one of those– those _things_.

“Is the immunity genetic?” had been Haru’s first question, which is certainly possible; Gou’s immune, hasn’t turned despite getting bitten nearly two weeks ago. She’s the reason Haru’s driving the van towards Kyoto– they’re going to get her to some scientists there, to see if her immunity can be used to find a cure.

“I don’t know,” Rei had replied, distraught. “I never came across immunity when I read about the Cordyceps Brain Infection.”

“Don’t give up hope,” Nagisa said, smiling and optimistic as always, even if his smile seemed forced now and his eyes shone with tears. “There’s always a chance.”

So here they are, taking that chance. It’s been a few hours since Rin got bitten; if he’s not immune like Gou, he’s got maybe two or three days before he turns.

Ai squeezes Rin’s hand tightly, because that’s not nearly enough.

Rin squeezes back; he hasn’t given up hope.

\--

Haru drives until sunset, probably processing things in the quiet way he does. They stop for dinner- they still have instant rice, so they build a fire and boil some water. Makoto tears small strips of seaweed for each of them, just so the rice won’t taste too bland. The strips get smaller and smaller each day, but Ai gets that they have to ration their food.

It’s starting to feel normal to be hungry all the time.

Nagisa offers to drive next, and Rei insists on navigating because “Nagisa-kun will definitely get us lost without me”. Haru and Makoto climb in the back with Rin, Gou and Ai. Makoto’s definitely been crying, and Haru’s eyes are dark, so very dark. They sit together, across from Rin, slumped against the wall like they’re exhausted. Ai leans his head on Rin’s shoulder and closes his eyes.

He doesn’t realise he’d fallen asleep until he wakes up. Haru and Makoto and sleeping pressed against each other, as expected. Rei, he can see through the wire grill separating them, has fallen asleep with his mouth open. Gou is sleeping curled into a corner, using her spare jacket as a pillow.

“Ai,” Rin whispers, soft and intense and _scared_.

“I know,” Ai whispers back, because he’s scared too. He pushes Rin’s hair out of his face, tucks it behind his ear. He smoothes his fingers over Rin’s face, memorising the feeling of Rin’s soft cheeks, his stubble-rough jaw, his dry, cracked lips, his sharp shark teeth.

“Careful,” Rin breathes against Ai’s thumb, and he’s right. One wrong move and Ai’ll be infected too. He sighs and pulls away carefully, instead rests his head on Rin’s shoulder again.

“I want to kiss you,” he murmurs, and squeezes Rin’s hand because he _can’t_.

“Don’t,” Rin replies darkly. “It transmits through bodily fluids, remember?”

“I know,” Ai says softly.

They fall silent. Ai drifts in and out of consciousness, but he doubts Rin sleeps at all that night.

\--

They stop for petrol in a small, deserted town and decide to look around for supplies, too. Makoto goes for the pharmacy, Rei and Gou stand guard as Nagisa fills up the tank, and Rin and Haru head for the convenience store. Ai manages to get some feathers to use as fletching, but all the tree shoots he finds are bent or broken, not exactly ideal for arrow-making. He takes what he can anyway and loads it in the van. He considers looting the nearby houses, but doesn’t want to risk it without a weapon, and he’s absolutely shit at fighting with a knife. Instead, he climbs into the van and starts making his arrows as they wait for Rin, Makoto and Haru to return.

Between them, they turn up with a first-aid kit, a six-pack of bottled water and three cans of sardines. The sardines are a tempting, mouth-watering luxury; the group quickly decides to leave them in Makoto’s care, because he’s the least likely to break and hoard it for himself.

They drive more. The wood really isn’t good for making arrows, and soon Ai’s surrounded by failed attempts. Rin’s skin looks paler and paler by the minute, too, and it’s all just too much for Ai. He asks to drive, to get away from it all for a while.

It doesn’t help.

\--

Their van breaks down in the middle of nowhere, when they’re surrounded by forest. At this point they’re not even angry, just resigned and surprised that the van lasted this long. None of them know anything about fixing cars, so they decide to leave it and continue on foot, hoping to pick up another vehicle along the way. Ai still has only one arrow, so he elects to be the one to support Rin as he limps behind the rest of the group. He’s breathing harshly, and his skin has taken on a green tinge. Ai doesn’t think he’s immune after all, but doesn’t want to be the one to say it.

“I’m just slowing you down,” Rin pants after a long, painful ten minutes.

“Don’t worry about it,” Gou says firmly. “I’m not leaving you behind, so don’t even think about it!”

“It’s for the best,” Rin tries to glare, but can’t seem to muster up the strength. “I’m- I’m going to turn soon, anyway–”

“Don’t say that!” and surprisingly it isn’t Gou who shouts, it’s Nagisa, eyes wet and voice trembling. “Please,” he whimpers. “Rin-chan, please, don’t say that.”

“Well,” Makoto steps in, sniffing a little himself but with a note of steel in his voice. “It’s getting late, anyway. We should just make camp for the night and decide what to do tomorrow.”

As always, he’s the voice of reason, so they build a fire and eat dinner. Haru brings out his last, precious can of mackerel, which is surely a sign that he thinks Rin is going to turn.

“This doesn’t taste as good as it used to,” Haru says at some point, looking upset.

“Maybe you’re finally getting sick of mackerel,” Makoto jokes, because they all know what’s making the food taste so bitter.

\--

Ai takes last watch, maybe an hour before sunrise. He watches for infected from outside their camp, but also watches Rin. He doesn’t want to, but Rin’s going to turn, and it could very well be right at this moment. The thought makes him feel sick, and if there was any concern that he might fall asleep while on watch, it’s gone now.

“Hey,” Rin murmurs when golden sunlight is just starting to shine through the trees.

“Good morning,” Ai replies softly, scanning the trees for movement. “How are you feeling?”

Ai waits, but no reply comes. When he turns around, Rin’s eyes are glazed over, empty, as he starts to get up.

“Rin?” Ai tries, gripping his pocket knife tightly as panic rises in his chest. “Rin!”

Rin snarls and pounces at Ai, snapping his shark teeth. Ai barely manages to scramble out of the way, fumbling for his bow and his last arrow. He nocks the arrow and aims at Rin’s head, but his hands won’t stop shaking and his eyes are so full of tears he can’t see anything. He can hear the others shouting at Rin, maybe even trying to hit him, to get him away from Ai, but none of that matters right now. All Ai can do is keep running backwards, trying to put as much distance between himself and Rin, trying to delay the decision as long as he can.

His back hits a tree, and Rin’s advancing fast. Ai takes aim, pulls back on the bowstring–

He hesitates just a moment too long, and suddenly Rin is close, too close, lunging for Ai’s throat with bared teeth. Instinctively, Ai throws an arm up, and then there’s sharp pain and warm blood trickling down his arm.

Maybe it’s the taste of Ai’s blood that does it, brings the life back to Rin’s eyes. Rin staggers backwards, staring at the bite on Ai’s arm in horror. Makoto and Rei are suddenly there, taking Rin firmly by the arms in case he tries to bite anyone else.

“Ai-chan!” Nagisa sobs when he sees the bite.

“A-Ai,” Rin stammers, small and broken and guilty. “Oh god, Ai– I’m so sorry, I–”

Ai’s mind is surprisingly clear. “It wasn’t you,” he says. “You would never–”

“But I _did_ ,” Rin interrupts, despair etched across his features. “Ai, oh god, what have I done?”

“We’ve got infected coming our way!” hisses Gou, eyes bright and voice shaky.

“Must’ve been all the noise we made,” Makoto says lowly. He bites his lip. Ai knows what he’s thinking: Rin’s never going to be able to make it out in time, and Ai will be the same in a day or two. They’ll have to be left behind.

“We’re not leaving you,” Nagisa snaps.

“Yes, you are,” Ai tells him firmly. “We’re done. The infected can’t do anything more to us. We’re dead weight.”

“You’ll have to leave me, at least,” Rin says darkly. “I’m dangerous.”

“We have to go,” Haru says, halfway up a tree to keep an eye on the infected. “ _Now_.”

“Leave us here,” Ai pleads.

“There are five of you now, you can take any old car you find,” Rin adds. “Get out of here!”

They can hear the infected already, the snarls and growls and sounds of feet struggling through the thick layer of tangled undergrowth that is probably the reason they’re still alive.

“I hate this,” Nagisa sobs, and hugs them both at the same time, strong and fierce and miserable, and soon all seven of them are wrapped in a group hug, which is nice, but the infected are coming, and they don’t care for sentiment.

“You take care of my sister,” Rin tells them harshly, eyes wet, pushing the others away but finding Ai’s hand with his own. “Keep her safe.”

“We will,” Haru promises, voice steady but eyes dark and deep and grieving.

“Goodbye,” Ai says, and the four boys turn away.

“Onii-chan,” Gou sobs, reaching for Rin. “No, I’m not leaving without you!” She tries to get back to Rin, but Makoto catches her firmly around the waist and physically carries her away. They can still hear her sobs and screaming and shrieking, but it doesn’t matter now.

“I’ve only got one arrow left,” Ai says softly, meaning there’s a choice to be made.

“I’ve got one bullet,” Rin replies, so Ai doesn’t have to make it. “Though I don’t deserve it, not with how I- I _bit_ you.”

Ai grabs Rin’s face and kisses him fiercely. “It was going to happen at some point, anyway,” he tells Rin firmly. “What’s done is done. What matters is what we’re going to do _now_.”

Rin chuckles humourlessly. “I’ll do you if you do me,” he offers, and Ai nods. They step away from each other and draw their weapons. Ai nocks his last arrow and aims at Rin’s head, hands and pulse steady as Rin takes aim with his gun. The infected have seen them, and are now running, but that doesn’t bother Ai.

“Any last words?” Ai asks.

Rin’s smile is tiny and sad. “I’m glad we met,” he says softly.

Ai smiles right back at him. “So am I,” he replies, and lets the arrow fly just as Rin pulls the trigger.

**Author's Note:**

> Day 4: Shark Bites
> 
> The Last of Us is a wonderful game with a wonderful story that goes nothing like this one, save for the Cordyceps Brain Infection being the cause of the illness. 
> 
> This piece is my favourite one of all my entries! Now that I read it again, I wonder if Ai was immune, since they didn't wait to see if he would turn. Wouldn't that be extra terrible? ;)
> 
> ( [writing blog](http://haven-writes.tumblr.com) | [original post](http://writers-haven.tumblr.com/post/93854949223/rintori-week-day-four) )


End file.
